VALVES
III Year VI Sem
Automation Laboratory
Department of Mechanical Engineering
SRM UNIVERSITY
Hydraulic Valves
Direction control valve
Pressure control valve
Flow control valve
Servo valve
Proportional control valve
Cartridge valve
Direction Control Valve
Direction control valve is used to
control the direction of the flow in a
hydraulic/ pneumatic circuits
Check valve
Check valve
Check valve
Pilot operated Check valve
Shuttle Valve
Fast Exhaust Valve
2/2 DCV
3/2 DCV
4/2 DCV
4/2 DCV
5/2 DCV
Rotary Four-way valve
Pressure Control Valve:
Pressure-control valves are used in hydraulic systems to control
actuator force (force = pressure area)and to determine and
select pressure levels at which certain machine operations
must occur.
Functions of Pressure control valve:
Limiting maximum system pressure at a safe level.
Regulating/reducing pressure in certain portions of the circuit.
Unloading system pressure.
Assisting sequential operation of actuators in a circuit with
pressure control.
Any other pressure-related function by virtue of pressure
control.
Reducing or stepping down pressure levels from the main
circuit to a lower pressure in a
sub-circuit.
Pressure Control Valve
Pressure relief valve
Sequence valve
Compound pressure relief valve
Pressure reducing valve
Unloading valve
Counterbalance valve
Pressure relief or limiting valve
Pressure relief valve
Sequence valve
Compound pressure relief valve
Unloading Valve
Unloading valves are pressure-control devices that are used to dump
excess fluid to the tank at little or no pressure. A common
application is in high-low pump circuits where two pumps move an
actuator at a high speed and low pressure.
Pressure reducing valve
Pressure reducing valve
Counterbalance valve
Flow control valve
Classification of Flow-Control Valves
Flow-control valves can be classified
as follows:
1. Non-pressure compensated.
2. Pressure compensated
Non-Pressure-Compensated Valves:
Non-pressure-compensated flow-control valves are used when
the system pressure is relatively constant and motoring
speeds are not too critical. The operating principle behind these
valves is that the flow through an orifice remains constant if the
pressure drop across it remains the same. In other words, the
rate of flow through an orifice depends on the pressure drop
across it.
Pressure-Compensated Valves
Pressure-compensated
flow-control
valves overcome
the
difficulty
caused by
non-pressure compensated valves by
changing the size of the orifice in relation to the changes in the
system pressure. This is accomplished through a spring-loaded
compensator spool that reduces the size of the orifice when
pressure drop increases. Once the valve is set, the pressure
compensator acts to keep the pressure drop nearly constant. It
works on a kind of feedback mechanism from the outlet pressure.
This keeps the flow through the orifice nearly constant
Sealing
Most Widely used type of seals
O-rings
Compression packed (V and Ushape)
Piston cap Packing
Piston rings
Wiper rings
O-rings
Compression packed (V and Ushape)
Piston rings
PRESSURE SWITCHES:
Types:
1. Diaphragm
2. Bourdon tube
3. Sealed piston
4. Dia- seal piston
Switches
ACCUMULATORS:
A hydraulic accumulator is a device that stores the potential energy
of an incompressible fluid held under pressure by an external
source against some dynamic force. This dynamic force can come
from different sources. The stored potential energy in the
accumulator is a quick secondary source of fluid power
capable of doing useful work.
There are three basic types of accumulators:
1. Weight-loaded or gravity accumulator: It is a vertically
mounted cylinder with a large weight. When the hydraulic fluid is
pumped into it, the weight is raised. The weight applies a force on
the piston that generates a pressure on the fluid side of piston.
The advantage of this type of accumulator over other types is
that it applies a constant on the fluid throughout its range of
motion
The main disadvantage is its extremely large size and heavy
weight. This makes it unsuitable for mobile application.
Weight loaded accumulator
2. Spring-loaded accumulator: A spring-loaded accumulator
stores energy in the form of a compressed spring. A hydraulic fluid
is pumped into the accumulator, causing the piston to move up
and compress the spring. The compressed spring then applies
a force on the piston that exerts a pressure on the hydraulic
fluid. This type of accumulator delivers only a small volume of oil
at relatively low pressure.
Spring loaded accumulator
3. Gas-loaded accumulator: A gas-loaded accumulator is
popularly used in industries. Here the force is applied to the oil using
compressed air. A gas accumulator can be very large and is often
used with water or high water-based fluids using air as a gas charge.
Typical application is on water turbines to absorb pressure surges
owing to valve closure and on ram pumps to smooth out the
delivery flow.
Gas loaded accumulator
There are two types of gas-loaded accumulators:
Non-separator-type accumulator: Here the oil and gas are
not separated. Hence, they are always placed vertically
Separator-type accumulator: Here the oil and gas are
separated by an element. Based on the type of element used to
separate the oil and gas
(a) Piston-type accumulator: It consists of a cylinder with a freely
floating piston with proper seals. Its operation begins by charging the
gas chamber with a gas (nitrogen) under a pre-determined pressure.
This causes the free
sliding piston to move down. Once the
accumulator is pre-charged, a hydraulic fluid can be pumped into the
hydraulic fluid port. As the fluid enters the accumulator, it causes
the piston to slide up, thereby compressing the gas that increases
its pressure and this pressure is then applied to the hydraulic fluid
through the piston. Because the piston is free sliding, the pressure on
the gas and that on the hydraulic fluid are always equal.
(b) Diaphragm accumulator: In this type, the hydraulic fluid and
nitrogen gas are separated by a synthetic rubber diaphragm. The
advantage of a diaphragm accumulator over a piston accumulator
is that it has no sliding surface that requires lubrication and can
therefore be used with fluids having poor lubricating
qualities. It is less sensitive to contamination due to lack of any closefitting components.
An accumulator can be used as a compensator for internal and external
leakage during an extended period in which the system is pressurized but
not in operation. The pump charges the accumulator and the system until the
maximum pressure sets the pressure switch ON. The contacts on the
pressure switch then open to automatically stop the electric motor that
drives the pump. The accumulator then supplies leakage oil to the system
during a long period. Finally, when the system pressure drops to the
minimum pressure setting of the pressure switch, it closes the electrical
circuit of the motor until the system gets recharged. The check valve is
placed between the pump and accumulator so that the pump does not
reverse when the motor is stopped and does not permit all the accumulator
Accumulator as an emergency power source: In some
hydraulic systems, safety dictates that a cylinder be retracted even
though the normal supply of oil pressure is lost due to a pump or
electrical power failures. In it, a solenoid activated three-way valve
is used along with the accumulator. When the three-way valve is
energized, oil flows to the blank end of the cylinder and also through the
check valve into the accumulator and the rod end of the cylinder. The
accumulator charges as the cylinder extends. If the pump fails due to an
electric failure, the solenoid de-energizes, shifting the valve to its spring
offset mode. Then the oil stored under pressure is forced from the
accumulator to the end of the cylinder. This retracts the cylinder to its
starting position.
Accumulator as a hydraulic shock absorber: One of the important
applications of accumulators is the elimination of hydraulic shock.
Hydraulic shock is caused by the sudden stoppage or declaration of a
hydraulic fluid flowing at relatively high velocity in a
pipe line. Rapidly closing a valve creates a compression wave.
This compression wave travels at the speed of sound upstream to
the end of the pipe and back again to the closed valve, which
causes an increase in pressure. The resulting rapid pressure pulsations
or high-pressure surges may cause damage to the hydraulic system
components. If an accumulation is installed near the rapidly closing
valve, the pressure pulsations or high pressure surges are suppressed.
What size of accumulator is necessary to supply 10000 cm of fluid is a
hydraulic system of maximum pressure of 200 bar to 100 bar
minimum. Assuming N2 gas per-charged pressure of 80 bar. Find
adiabatic and isothermal solution.
SERVO VALVES: Servo valves were developed to facilitate the
adjustment of fluid flow based on changes in the load motion.
Simply put, it is a programmable orifice. In machine motion control,
servo systems involve continuous monitoring, feedback and
correction. Also they are used to improve efficiency, accuracy and
A servomechanism is defined as an automatic device for
repeatability.
controlling a large amount of power by means of a very small
amount
of
power
and
automatically
correcting
the
performance of a mechanism.
Servo Valves
Servo valves can be used in virtually any aspect of fluid
power system operations, including the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Positioning of cylinders and rotary actuators.
Speed of cylinders and motors.
Cylinder force and motor torque.
Acceleration and deceleration.
System pressure.
Flow rate.